


Purple Guardian

by herekittie



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon, First Meetings, Gen, Implied Bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 10:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6701740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herekittie/pseuds/herekittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pochi has a sheepish grin on and one hand scratching the side of his face as he floats towards Kuroo. In his other he held the hand of a boy Kuroo does not recognise. He has long black hair that covers his face and his clothes are dirty and wrinkled, as though he had been rolling on the ground.</p>
<p>There is also a scrape on his right knee, and that catches Kuroo’s attention almost immediately.</p>
<p>“You’re hurt,” he says as he steps forward. The boy takes a step back, and Kuroo stops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Purple Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Kuroken Day! Not sure what timezone AO3 works in but it's already 1 May here so I'm putting this up.
> 
> EDIT: hmu at [tumblr](http://herekittie-writes.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/herekittiew)

Kuroo notices something is wrong the moment he steps out of the school gate and is not immediately assaulted with a hug.

He looks left, right, left again, and sees only his classmates and their pokemon leaving. He does not see his own.

“Pochi?” Kuroo calls out, heading back into the school grounds. Worry begins to seep in. It is not unusual for Pochi to disappear elsewhere during school hours while Kuroo was stuck in class, but he always makes sure to come back at the end of the day to walk Kuroo home.

Pochi not being here to greet him is new and Kuroo does not like it.

Problem is, Kuroo has no idea where to start looking. Kuroo never learned where Pochi went when he disappears, never bothered to, having assumed Pochi would be at the gates at the end of the day regardless.

But if Kuroo goes off on his own to look for him, he might miss Pochi when he arrives. So he decides to stay right where he is, ignores the urge to move and search, and waits for Pochi.

“Pochi?” He tries again, in case Pochi is within earshot.

When he hears a familiar cry answer him back, Kuroo breaks out in a smile, running to the source.

“Pochi! Where were you? I was so...worried.” His words trail off at the end when he sees them.

Pochi has a sheepish grin on and one hand scratching the side of his face as he floats towards Kuroo. In his other he held the hand of a boy Kuroo does not recognise. He has long black hair that covers his face and his clothes are dirty and wrinkled, as though he had been rolling on the ground.

There is also a scrape on his right knee, and that catches Kuroo’s attention almost immediately.

“You’re hurt,” he says as he steps forward. The boy takes a step back, and Kuroo stops.

Back when Kuroo was trying to pet the stray Purrloins that loiter around their neighbourhood, they would take one look at him approaching and dart off. His mum told him that he needed to prove to them he was not a threat and gain their trust, and sure enough, a week later, the Purrloins stopped running away from his touch. Kuroo figures, looking down at the boy, that this is similar.

“I’m Kuroo Tetsurou,” he says. “That’s Pochi,” he points at Pochi, who smiles down at the boy. “He’s my Haunter. What’s your name?”

The boy remains silent, and Kuroo waits. Patience is key here. Pochi squeezes the boy’s hand encouragingly.

Finally, Kuroo catches a whisper.

“Kozume,” the boy mumbles, “Kenma.”

“You have a pretty name. Can I call you Kenma?” Kuroo says, and it must have surprised Kenma because he looks up at Kuroo for the first time since they met.

He has pretty eyes, is the first thought Kuroo has.

“Ok,” Kenma says, shifting his weight. His body tenses up and he freezes. Pochi let out a worried cry and floats down to Kenma’s eye level.

The scrape, Kuroo realises.

“We need to clean that,” he says, stepping forward again. Kenma flinches but he stays put, which Kuroo counts as progress.

“It’s fine. Just leave it.” Kenma tugs his hand out from Pochi’s grip, and Pochi lets it go with an unhappy whine.

“No it’s not!” Kuroo exclaims, and Kenma jumps. “Ah, sorry,” he quickly apologizes, “but you can’t just leave it! It could get dirty and infected and you could lose your leg!”

Kenma blanches. “My whole leg?”

“Yes.” Probably. When Kuroo gets a cut, his mum tells him if he doesn’t clean it properly he could lose his whole finger, so the same logic should also work here. “I have medicine and stuff at home, so I can do it for you.” Kuroo holds out his hand.

Kenma’s eyebrows pinch together and his lips press into a thin line. Slowly, he places his hand in Kuroo’s. “Ok,” he says, “but I need to be home soon.”

Kuroo closes his fingers around Kenma’s loosely, and he walks out of school with Kenma in tow and Pochi at Kenma’s other side. “Where do you live?”

Kenma gives his address, and Kuroo lights up. “That’s only three houses down from me!” He says. “Getting home from mine would be no time at all!”

“Oh.” Kenma does not seem as excited as Kuroo is about this revelation, and the conversation dies.

Kuroo doesn’t mind. Kenma doesn’t seem like the type to chatter, and Kuroo enjoys silence as much as he enjoys talking.

The sky is red from the setting sun and the air is pleasantly cool. Kenma’s hand is warm in his own. It’s nice.

Surprisingly, it’s Kenma who breaks the silence. “Sorry.”

“Huh?” Kuroo looks back at Kenma, whose eyes are fixed on the ground.

“I didn’t know Pochi was yours. I thought he was wild.”

The pokemon in question is rubbing at his eyes, seemingly uncaring of their conversation.

“Ah,” Kuroo replies, not quite getting it, “but why’re you apologising?”

“He’s always with me, so, you must miss him.”

It takes a while for Kuroo to make sense of that sentence. “Ah!” His eyes widen in understanding.

Kenma startles again, and Kuroo instantly feels like he just kicked a Skiddo.

“Sorry, sorry,” he says, rubbing his thumb over Kenma’s knuckles. “Pochi always goes off on his own during class and I never know where he goes, but I don’t mind. Lessons would just bore him anyway. So he was with you, huh?”

Kenma hesitates, then nods.

That’s one mystery solved, but there’s still one remaining.

“Your knee,” Kuroo gestures at the wound, “how did it get hurt?”

Kenma looks down at the scrape. “Ah, I tripped.”

Kuroo is ready to accept it as truth, but he catches motion at the corner of his eyes and looks up. Pochi is shaking his head vigorously, visibly upset, his hands held in front of him in an ‘X’.

Kenma’s jumpy demeanor, Pochi denying Kenma’s story, the dirty clothes. It doesn’t take long for Kuroo to put the pieces together and come up with quite an ugly picture, but if Kenma lied, he must not want Kuroo to know, and if that is what Kenma wants, Kuroo won’t push it.

“Must hurt a lot,” he says instead.

“It’s not that bad if I don’t bend it.”

“Hmm. Oh, what class are you in? I’m in 3-3.”

“2-4.”

“Ah.” That explains why Kuroo has never seen Kenma before. All their breaks are in different periods and their classrooms are on different floors.

Silence returns, and it lasts to the end of their walk. Kuroo points out his house when it comes into view. “And yours should be… over there?” Kuroo points to a house across the street, a few doors down. “Wait, isn’t that the one with the mean Espurr?”

Kenma huffs and his eyebrows pinch together as he glares at Kuroo. It’s the first strong emotion Kuroo has seen on Kenma, and Kuroo is sure Kenma meant for it to be threatening or maybe disapproving, but Kuroo can’t help but think it makes Kenma look like a kitten caught in a sneeze.

“Tama’s not mean,” Kenma says, his voice firm and unwavering.

“Once I was walking by and she wanted one of my cookies, so I gave it to her but she threw it back in my face. Literally.” Kuroo rubs a spot on his forehead. “Right here.”

“Tama doesn’t like cookies.”

“Then why?”

“Don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

Kuroo sighs and lets the matter drop. He makes for his house, tugging on Kenma’s hand. “Anyway, we still need to clean your knee, so come on.”

Kenma follows without protest. Kuroo lets go of Kenma’s hand and gets out his keys to open the door.

“Your parents aren’t home?” Kenma asks, watching Pochi pass through the closed door and head into the house proper by himself.

Kuroo fishes out his keys. “Nope,” he says, unlocking the door and pushing it open. “Not for another hour. Come in.”

Kenma lingers at the entrance, peering into the house, then tentatively enters. Kuroo closes the door behind them and slips off his shoes, setting them next to Kenma’s. Kenma waits by the shoe rank, fidgeting with his bag strap, eyes darting around.

“Living room’s this way.” Kuroo leads them down a short hallway.

The living room is small and cozy. A large sofa takes up most of the space, paired with a coffee table and a television. Pochi is there, too, pouring juice into two glasses. Next to them is an opened first-aid box.

“Thanks, Pochi.” Kuroo takes the glasses and hands one to Kenma. He drinks and his tongue is flooded with a cool, tart sweetness. “It’s apple,” he says, flopping onto the sofa.

Kenma accepts the glass with both hands, looking into it, and sits at the corner of the sofa, next to the armrest. “Thank you.”

Kuroo takes two more gulps, downing half the glass, and lets out a loud, happy sigh. He hears a small, distressed cry from Kenma’s direction and turns his head, alarmed.

Kenma has drawn up his legs to his chest, his glass between his knees and his chest, his eyes watching Pochi wearily as Pochi tries to dab at the red scrape with a damp cloth. When it touches the wound, Kenma’s knee jerks, his eyes twitch and Pochi withdraws, making the same distressed noise.

“Here,” Kuroo reaches for the cloth, setting his glass down. “I’ll do that. Can you get the cream and bandages, Pochi?”

Pochi nods and hands over the cloth, switching places with Kuroo. Kenma’s eyes transfer their gaze from Pochi to Kuroo, and Kuroo chuckles nervously. Kenma’s eyes are pretty but intense, Kuroo is learning, like he’s trying to look right into his soul and pick it apart to see what makes it tick.

“Bear with it, OK? I’ll make it quick,” Kuroo reassures, holding the side of Kenma’s knee. He doesn’t get a response, but starts anyway. He makes sure to keep the touches firm but gentle, and though the jerks don’t stop, they don’t move as much. Kuroo counts it as a win.

It must still hurt, though. “What do you like, Kenma?” Kuroo asks, trying to distract him. “I like mackerel.”

“Games,” Kenma replies, speaking more into his glass than to Kuroo.

“Like tag?”

Kenma shakes his head. “Video games, like Monster Hunter.”

Kuroo hums. “I’ve never heard of that game. Is it fun?” He finishes cleaning the wound as he asks, and stands up. He looks at Kenma, and his breath catches.

Kenma is smiling, a tiny, delightful thing. “Yeah,” he says, and the smile remains. Kuroo never wants it to leave. A thought pops up in his head: _I want Kenma to smile forever._

Kenma notices Kuroo’s staring and his smile drops. “Kuroo?”

“Ah,” he says, mentally shaking himself back to the present. “Yeah. Um.” Suddenly, words fail him, and he can’t think of what to say next. _You have a nice smile_ is probably not appropriate.

Pochi swoops in like a hero, saving Kuroo from making a mistake, and holds up a tube of antiseptic cream and bandages.

“Thank you,” Kenma mumbles as Pochi carefully smears the cream onto the wound and deftly wraps it up. It gives time for Kuroo to recover, and he sits back down, drinking his juice.

Pochi makes a happy noise when he finishes, gives Kenma a one-handed hug, then moves to gather up the medical supplies. Kenma puts his legs down and finishes his glass.

“I’ll go home now, then,” Kenma says, setting his empty glass on the table.

“I’ll walk you back.”

It is a minute’s walk from his house to Kenma’s, and Kuroo glares at the Espurr from the gate when they arrive. The Espurr does not spare him a second glance. The second Kenma passes the threshold she’s on him like glue, hugging his legs as best she could and staring at his bandaged knee.

Kenma bends at the waist to pick her up, and she meows at him, holding his face with her tiny paws.

Kuroo personally could not see anything in those big dead eyes, but Kenma must have because Kuroo hears him mumble “I’m fine” to her. Kenma turns to Kuroo then, and Kuroo tries to make it look like he was not just glaring at Kenma’s Espurr.

“Thank you,” Kenma says.

“It’s no big deal,” Kuroo says. Kuroo should probably leave now, yes, he should, but his legs won’t move because it feels like if he left now, this would be the last time Kuroo Tetsurou’s and Kozume Kenma’s lives intersect, and he doesn’t want that. He wants to hang out with Kenma more, he wants to see Kenma smile more, he wants to know what Kenma likes about Monster Hunter.

He does not want this to be the last time they see each other.

The Espurr meows, and that jolts Kenma into motion. Kuroo sees Kenma turning away, taking a step, two steps, and he has to do something quick, right now, before Kenma’s gone.

“Monster Hunter!” He shouts. Kenma’s head wipes back around, his expression a mix of confusion and alarm. Kuroo clears his throat and tries again. “Can you teach me how to play Monster Hunter?”

Kenma’s gaze drops to the ground, and, slowly, his lips pull up into a smile. It’s even smaller than the one from before, like Kenma is trying to push it back, but Kuroo sees it and feels a wave of warmth wash over him. “OK,” he says, and it’s everything Kuroo wants to hear.

He smiles back, his being suddenly thrumming with energy and delight. “I’ll come over tomorrow!"

Kenma nods. “I’ll see you then.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love Espurrs, I swear, and so does Kuroo, but Tama did not make a good first impression.


End file.
